November 10, 2005

Research reveals the long and the short of text messaging

Men keep their texts short and snappy while women have seized on the mobile as a new way of expressing support and affection, according to sociologists at Sheffield Hallam University, via The Guardian.

"Venturing into trains, restaurants, coffee shops, shopping centres and pubs to carry out their fieldwork, they found a typical man-to-man message might be "phoned matthew" or "INTERNAL FUSE".

But the researchers found that women also used the ubiquitous mobile to avoid awkward conversations.

The study, led by Dr Simeon Yates, found that rules about mobile phone etiquette have yet to be set, meaning that what counts as polite and acceptable use of the mobile phone in public differs from person to person.

... "We found that people have very quickly adapted to using mobile phones as a way of managing different aspects of their lives at the same time.

"For example, it has become common to text when you want to keep communication private, especially if you are in a group. An obvious example is that a man is more likely to text than phone his partner when he is out with friends or peers.

"This prevents him by losing face by switching from 'friend' mode to 'partner' mode in front of his peers," he said."